PG TEAMS SPLIT
Lady Hawks to Paris; boys lose
All’s well that ends well isn’t always true.
Pleasant Grove’s girls forced 29 Paris turnovers and won 64-47, while the Hawks’ boys battled hard with the Wildcats for three quarters in the last game of the evening until Paris outscored PG 25-11 in the fourth and won 68-55 at Hawk Gym Tuesday.
PLEASANT GROVE 64, PARIS 47
Sha’Nequa Henry, who finished with a team-high 23 points, made the first basket of the game for the Lady Hawks right off the opening tip. It was a good sign of things to come.
Madeline Haak, who contributed 12 points, hit a pair of charity shots to start a Pleasant Grove 11-0 run. Haak hit two more free throws, Monique Walker connected on a shot from downtown, and Ashanti Levingston had a pair of layups during the run.
Many Hawk shots were opened up by PG’s full-court press, which caused many Wildcat turnovers.
“I thought pressuring them in the back court would be a key,” PG head coach Jason Boston said. “We shot 31 free throws.
Anytime I see a stat like that, I know that we were aggressive going to the basket.”
Walker was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe for the Hawks.
Early in the second quarter, Pleasant Grove got on an 8-0 spurt after Levingston hit a five-foot jumper. Henry had a pair of layups, and Walker banked in a short jumper as the Hawks took a 29-14 lead.
Coach Boston and PG went into the locker room with a 15-point lead.
It was more of the same for the Hawks in the second half. Pleasant Grove continued to press Paris. Even though the Lady Wildcats’ Kiauhsha Jackson scored 10 points in the third, PG managed to slightly outscore its foe 16-14.
Haak and Walker paced the Hawks’ third with six points each.
The final stanza was played on even keel, and Coach Boston put in reserves. Henry scored six points in the fourth for the Hawks.
Pleasant Grove shot 37 percent from the field as it hit on 20 of 53 shots. Paris made 19 of 59 attempts for a field goal percentage of 32.
The Hawks had fewer turnovers with 13 compared to Paris’ 29, but the Wildcats out-rebounded PG 34-31.
Phoebe Robertson and Kaylee Kelly scored 10 points each to lead PG’s junior varsity to a 47-29 win over Paris.
Pleasant Grove remains undefeated in District 14-4A at 3-0 and improved to 16-9. Paris is 8-17 and 1-3 in district.
The Hawks play at Liberty-Eylau Friday at 4:30 p.m.
PARIS 68, PLEASANT GROVE 55
Jaylen Pipkins and Josh Robinson swished in a game-high 25 points each as the Wildcats’ big fourth quarter led to their win over the Hawks.
“It was a good game,” PG head coach Billy Brewer said. “They just came out in the second half and wanted it more. Our poor shot selection hurt us. They have a good team, and they’re hard to beat. We are going to bounce back. We have a good team. We hurried some of our shots. We’ll meet them again.”
With the Hawks down 43-41 entering the fourth quarter, Paris opened up the quarter on an 8-0 spurt to extend its lead to 10.
Connor Ouellette, who hooped up a team-high 17 points, hit a 15-foot jump shot to end the Wildcats’ streak.
But Paris scored five in a row to go up 56-43. Cory Jones, who contributed 12 points, and Luke Harmon hit one shot from 3-point land each near the end of the fourth, but the game was out of reach.
“I thought we played really well in the second half,” Paris head coach Billy Steed said. “The first half was sloppy for us. Pipkins is a special player and once he gets going, it’s hard to guard him. He gives us a mismatch in every game. Once they adjust to him, and our other players do what they did in the second half, we’re pretty good.”
Paris took an early 4-0 lead, but the teams literally traded baskets as the Wildcats went up 19-15 after one. Aaron Harmon, who finished with 10 points, paced the Hawks with six points in the opening quarter on two putbacks and a layup.
Pipkins poured in nine points in the first quarter for the Wildcats.
Ouellette led the Hawks’ offense in the second quarter as he nailed down two 3-pointers, two free throws, and a short jump shot for a total of 10 points.
Xavier Benson, who finished with 10 points for PG, pulled down some big rebounds and scored five in the second. The Hawks and Wildcats went into halftime tied at 33-all.
The third quarter was a defensive battle with Paris edging Pleasant Grove 10-8 to take a two-point lead going into the final act.
The Hawks shot 43 percent from the field on 22 of 51 shooting, while the Wildcats hit 52 percent of their attempts on 24 of 46 shooting.
Paris edged PG in turnovers 11-10 and in rebounds 30-28. The Wildcats are 17-4 and 2-0 in District 14-4A.
Stephen Austin fired in a game-high 25 points to lead the jayvee Hawks to a 81-43 route of the Wildcats. Teammate Noah Fawbush helped out with 12.
Dylan Hopkins and Layton Jackson scored 14 points apiece, but PG’s frosh fell to Paris 65-50.
Pleasant Grove (13-7, 1-1) plays at Liberty-Eylau Friday at 4:30 p.m.
GIRLS Paris 10 13 14 10 — 47 PG 20 18 16 10 — 64 PARIS (47): Sanders 4 4-4 12, Reeves 1 0-0 2, D. Runnels 1 0-0 2, Jackson 13 4-7 30, E. Runnels 0 1-2 1, TOTALS 19 9-13 47.
PG (64): Jones 1 0-0 2, Hines 1 2-2 4, Pickelman 0 1-3 1, Morris 0 0-1 0, Henry 9 4-4 23, Levingston 3 1-3 7, Cobb 0 0-2 0, Haak 2 8-10 12, Walker 4 6-6 15, TOTALS 20 22-31 64.
3-point goals: PAR-none. PG-Walker, Henry. Team fouls: Paris 21, Pleasant Grove 14. Fouled out: Patrick.
BOYS Paris 19 14 10 25 — 68 PG 15 18 8 11 — 55 PARIS (68): Pipkins 8 8-10 25, Lawrence 1 1-2 3, Richardson 2 1-4 5, Robinson 9 6-8 25, Easter 1 0-0 2, Hawkes 3 2-3 8, TOTALS 24 18-27 68.
PG (55): Edwards 1 1-2 3, Jones 5 1-2 12, A. Harmon 5 0-0 10, Benson 4 2-7 10, Ouellette 6 2-4 17, L. Harmon 1 0-0 3, TOTALS 22 6-15 55.
3-point goals: PAR-Pipkins, Robinson. PG-Ouellette 3, L. Harmon, Jones. Team fouls: Paris 15, Pleasant Grove 19. Fouled out: Benson.